Brassiere



M. wlTKowER Oct. 1l, 1949.

BRASSIERE Filed Oct. 22, 1945 Patented Oct. 11, 1949 UNITED STATES GFF'ICE Max Witkower, Los Angeles,y Calif., assignol" 'to' Leonard J. Witkower, West -Los Angeles; Calif.

lApplication octoer 22, 1945, serial No. slaz's.l

4 Claims.

My presen-t invention has to do with improvements in brassire garments,- hav'ing as' an object 4the provision of a brassire incorporati-ng' novel breast-supporting' elements designed to support the weight of the breasts directly from the shoulder' straps and capable of bei-ng worn either inside or outside the body-encircling- `portion o'f the' garment. p

Another novel characteristic of my im-pro'ved brassire is'A in features of adjustability.

Another object of the invention is the Vprovi-sion of a brassire `which is peculiarly well adapted to be worn by -pregn'a'.n't women and nursing mothers.

Other objects and advantages will appear'he'reinafter.

rIhe invention will be herein described in its presently preferred form', lbut it i's to be understoodI that; in its broaderaspects.as de'inedl by the accompanying claims, itis not limited to this form. J

For purposes of explaining tliieinvention I show in they accompanying drawings and will now des'c'ribe by reference to thel drawings one olf its practicable forms.

In the drawings, y

Fig. 1 isa perspective view vof a brassire 4elnbodying my' invention; fand.

Fig. 2 is an inside view .of the brassire in spread .open position.A

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 5 generally denotes a body-encircling member having breast-covering portions 1, I, each composed of two fabric strips attached together by a medial seam 8, the two strips being detachably secured together medially in the front of the garment by hooks and eyes 9. Portions 'I are formed to provide breast cups as best shown in Fig. 1.

Each of the strips 'l has a side extension IU secured thereto by a seam I I, which passes under the arms and around the back of the wearer, one of the strips having secured at its end an elastic strap I5 carrying a hook member I6 and the other strip I having at its end an elastic strap II having eyes I8 to selectively receive the hook I6 in order to fasten the garment about the body of the wearer.

Each of the breast-covering portions is somewhat V-shaped, each having at its apex an anchor strip 20 provided with a hook 2I to selectively engage in eyes 22 carried by the front end portion of the respective shoulder straps 30. Each of the shoulder straps is so secured at its front end to one of the anchor strips 20 and is secured at its back end to the top edge portion of one of the extension strips I0. Each of the seams 8 in 55 the .respective breast-covering portion strips 1 terminates at the point 35 short of the bottom edge, .the remainder `of lthe seam being open to provide a slit t0 yflor' :the purpose to Vbe described.

To the' inside surface' .of `each of the breast- Vcoveri-r-rg strips '1 a crescent-shaped breast-supporting 'strip 45, '46 li's' secured as by stitching 48, :the remainder ofeac'h tbre'as't-supporting strip being unsecured; tw'o strips 45, 46 are oppositel-y disposed, Ve'iiftf'rridi'ng cr'ossw-ise of each other across Ithe medial portion of the garment .and each= being adj-ustakily suspended at its top end fromy the respective' shoulder straps 30 by means of a' shoulder' strap extension v.'Illa which carriesait its lower end a hook 50 engaging in an .eye 5r carried by' the end of the breast-#suplportirg strip".`

If .it -be Adesired rto wear `the breast-supporting strips on the exterior surface of the garment as shown' :in ig. '-1, tlref outer portion of each strip extends through one' of the slits 41T and. thence upwardly' against tl `rcint surface' -of the garment as shown in F-i .1 If it be desired to wear the bifeas'i'lpotn Strips" inside the garment 2,- they,` ofcourse, are Inot ypassed through the' slits 40. l

To prevent the bottoni ends of the slits from vdaring open and `also .to provide circumferential adjustability .of .the body-"encircling member at its lower edge portion, I secure to each breastcovering strip at one side of the slit 40 an elastic band carrying at its outer end a hook 6I and to the outer surface of each of the breast-covering strips 'I an anchor strip 62 is secured, the latter being provided with spaced eyes 63 to selectively receive the hook. Each band passes through the interior of the garment to the eX- terior thereof through a slit '10.

When the breast-supporting strips are desired to be worn exteriorly of the garment, each of the shoulder strap extensions 30a is passed through a slit provided in each of the breast-covering portions. When the breast-supporting strips are worn inside the garment, the extension 3d, of course, is merely disposed entirely within the garment as shown in Fig. 2.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by virtue of the construction and arrangement of the breast-supporting strips the support for the breasts may be adjusted to accommodate changing conditions of the gure and, for a nursing mother, the breasts may be exposed without disturbing the support, by simply unfastening the hooks which secure the front end of the shoulder straps to the anchor tabs 2t. The crosswise disconfine the breasts in a manner to urge them towards each other and the breasts are comfortably and effectively supported without any undue constriction of the body-encircling portion of the garment about the body.

I claim:

1. A brassire comprising a fabric body-encircling member having breast-covering portions each presenting a transversely disposed slit through the lower edge thereof, a pair of shoulder straps secured at their respective ends to the front and back portions of said member, a pair of breast-supporting strips each secured at its bottom end portion to a breast-covering portion at the side of said `slit laterallyoutward of the middle of the garment, said breast-covering strips being disposed crosswise of eachother in position to support the breasts of the user and projecting through said slits, and means for securing the top endof each breast-supporting strip to a shoulder strap.

2. A brassire comprising a fabric body-encircling member having breast-covering portions each presenting a transversely disposed slit through the lower edge thereof `extending for a substantial distance, a pair of shoulder straps secured at their respective ends to the front and back portions of said member, a pair of elongated crescent-shaped breast-supporting strips eachv secured at its bottomv end portion to a breastcovering portion at the side of said slit laterally outward of the middle of the garment, said breastcovering strips being disposed crosswise of each other in position to support the breasts of the user and each being adapted to extend through one of said slits, and means for securing the top end of each breast-supporting strip to a shoulder strap.

3. A brassire comprising a fabric body-en-` strips being disposed crosswise of each other in position to support the breasts of the user and each being adapted to extend through one of said slits, means for securing the top end of each breast-supporting strip to a shoulder strap, and adjustable means for eifecting longitudinal adjustment of the bottom edge portion of the body encircling member in the region of said slits whereby the portions of `the breast covering portions on each side of the slits may be drawn into overlapping relation to each other.

4. In a nursing brassire, a fabric body encircling member having a pair 0f breast covering portions each having a slit extending through and upwardly from the lower edge thereof for a substantial distance, means detachably securing together the breast covering portions at the middle of the garment, a pair of shoulder straps secured at their respective ends to the front and back portions of said member, a pair of breast supporting strips each secured at its lower end portion to a breast covering portion at the side of said slit laterally outward of the middle of the garment,

said strips being disposed crosswise of each other in position to support the breasts of the user and each being adapted to extend through one of said slits, means for securing the upper end of each strip to a shoulder strap, and adjustable means for eifecting longitudinal adjustment of the bottom edge portion of the body encircling member in the region of said slits whereby the portions of the breast covering portions on each side of the slits may be drawn into overlapping relation to each other.

MAX WITKOWER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,961,048 Jacob et al. May 29, 1934 2,067,354 Spare Jan. 12, 1937 2,100,890 Witkower Nov. 30, 1937 2,315,614 Glasser Apr. 6, 1943 2,362,974 Cohen Nov. 21, 1944 2,374,093 Gluckin Apr. 11, 1945 2,421,448 Witkower June 3, 1947 

